Julio Lacerda
Both illustrator and graphic designer, Julio Lacerda got into paleoart at the age of 17. Wishing to bridge the creativity of reconstructing prehistoric animals and the essence of wildlife documentaries, he seeks to represent dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals as complex and realistic living beings in both appearance and behavior, being protagonists of casual scenes. His work has been published and shown at several countries like Japan (Pterosaurs exhibition, Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum), United Kingdom (All Your Yesterdays by Irregular Books), USA (official publication of Siats meekerorum, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences) as well as his home country, Brazil.
Illustrations
35 genera
Anhanguera
The "old devil" of the Brazilian skies was a powerful flier that soared over open seas, reeling in fish.
Wingspan 4.5 m
Arambourgiania
The only known fossil of Arambourgiania was found by chance near the side of a railway in the 1940s. It represents one of the first discoveries of an azhdarchid, and one of the largest of all known pterosaurs.
Wingspan 7 m
Araripesaurus
The first pterosaur named from Brazil’s famous Santana Formation is only known from a partial wing.
Wingspan 2 m
Archaeoistiodactylus
Paleontologists once thought Archaeoistiodactylus was the earliest known short-tailed pterosaur, but they now think it is a closer relative of the transitional wukongopterids.
Wingspan 75 cm
Bakonydraco
This medium-sized Hungarian tapejarid was also the first of its kind to be discovered in Europe, but classified as something totally different.
Wingspan 4 m
Beipiaopterus
The only specimen of Beipiaopterus has fossilized wing membranes preserving blood vessels and stiffening fibers.
Wingspan 1 m
Bergamodactylus
Bergamodactylus is a tiny pterosaur from the Triassic of Italy.
Bogolubovia
Russia’s first discovered pterosaur fossil was a partial neck vertebrae from a medium-sized azhdarchid.
Boreopterus
This Chinese pterosaur was an aerial fisher in lakes and rivers 125 million years ago.
Wingspan 1.5 m
Brasileodactylus
This medium-sized pterosaur plucked fish from the sea with its long, toothy jaws.
Wingspan 2.5 m
Camposipterus
Fossil snout fragments show that Camposipterus was an oceanic fisher.
Wingspan 4 m
Caulkicephalus
Caulkicephalus was found on the Isle of Wight, an island off the coast of England. Its name comes from the term "Caulkhead," a traditional nickname for Isle of Wight residents.
Wingspan 5 m
Dawndraco
Long regarded as a specimen of Pteranodon, Dawndraco kanzai is a crested fish-eater with an overbite.
Dimorphodon
This rather popular big-headed pterosaur was always famously cast as a puffin-analogue. This argument though, might not hold water anymore.
Wingspan 1.45 m
Domeykodactylus
Domeykodactylus was the first-named dsungaripterid from South America.
Wingspan 2 m
Dsungaripterus
The so-called "ugliest pterosaur" was actually beautifully adapted for a unique lifestyle. Its upward-curving jaws and crushing back teeth could work their way around hard food items, especially shellfish in freshwater ponds and pools.
Wingspan 3 m
Eurolimnornis
Scientists once though Eurolimnornis was the earliest known grebe, a group of freshwater diving birds, but they now think it’s a pterosaur.
Wingspan 1 m
Germanodactylus
Germany's pet pterosaur was probably nothing special, except that it was once classed in the genus Pterodactlyus. This was a common problem with many of its contemporaries, and only recently has it been reclassified.
Wingspan 1 m
Guidraco
The so-called "ghost dragon" was a predator that snapped up its prey with a set of thin, needle-like teeth that worked like a trap for its slippery victims.
Wingspan 5 m
Herbstosaurus
This fragmentary pterosaur from Argentina was initially thought to be a small meat-eating dinosaur.
Wingspan 1.2 m
Huanhepterus
China’s Ordos Basin was once home to the medium-sized suspension-feeding pterosaur Huanhepterus.
Wingspan 2.5 m
Istiodactylus
The original istiodactylid, this large pterosaur might have been an overland scavenger like a vulture.
Wingspan 4.3 m
Liaoningopterus
Liaoningopterus patrolled lakes and rivers hunting for fish in northeastern China 120 million years ago.
Wingspan 5 m
Liaoxipterus
Once thought to be a long-tongued insectivore, Liaoxipterus is now considered a terrestrial carnivore.
Nyctosaurus
The tiny relative of Pteranodon, this was also one of the most aerial-adapted pterosaurs ever. It lacked the claws on its hand, and had narrow seabird-like wings. Its claim to fame however is a titanic spiked crest three times taller than itself.
Wingspan 1.9 m
Peteinosaurus
This early flier had some of the shortest wings of any pterosaur.
Wingspan 60 cm
Pteranodon
The best-known of all pterosaurs, and the most iconic, Pteranodon fished from the Late Cretaceous seas like a gigantic albatross. It lived in male-dominated societies, with the opposite sex being pint-sized next to their massive mates.
Wingspan 6.6 m
Pterodactylus
One of the best-known pterosaurs of the Jurassic, this is also among the first ever discovered.
Wingspan 1.05 m
Pterofiltrus
Pterofiltrus, from China’s Yixian Formation, was a small ctenochasmatid pterosaur adapted for filter-feeding.
Wingspan 1 m
Puntanipterus
Puntanipterus has a distinctive ankle that may or may not also be found in Pterodaustro, known from slightly younger rocks from the same area.
Qinglongopterus
Qinglongopterus is a Middle Jurassic rhamphorhynchid from China. Known from just one specimen, it may have been the direct ancestor of Rhamphorhynchus which lived ten million years later in Germany.
Wingspan 30 cm
Quetzalcoatlus
The tallest flying animal ever, and often seen sharing the title of "Largest Flying Vertebrate" with Hatzegopteryx, this was also one of the last of its kind. Quetzalcoatlus soared over North America, meeting the famous likes of T. rex and Triceratops before vanishing like the rest of its neighbors 66 million years ago.
Wingspan 10 m
Rhamphinion
Rhamphinion is one of the earliest pterosaurs known from North America.
Wingspan 1.5 m
Sinopterus
This cat-sized crested pterosaur had no teeth, but ate almost anything.
Wingspan 1.2 m
Wenupteryx
Wenupteryx is the most complete South American Jurassic pterosaur.
Wingspan 1.1 m
